CV Help

Wake_Up_Donnie

I went to college for 4 years; passed year 1 and year 2, repeated year 3 but didn't pass exams and thus didn't graduate.

I am wondering how to put this on my CV as I don't want to lie and give the impression that I have a degree but I also can't not put it down and have a four year gap on my CV.

Please no smart comments. Mistakes were made, I acknowledge that and I'm trying to make the best of things.

Any advice greatly appreciated

Corruptedmorals

What I would do is list the individual modules that you did pass- 1st and 2nd and any passed in 3rd year. Maybe someone has a better suggestion though.

tenchi-fan

I'd leave it off.

Mr. Loverman

EDUCATION SECTION

2006 - 2010________B.Sc in Whatever________College Name

...

The above isn't dishonest.

In the interview if they ask about your degree you can tell them you completed the first three years but due to some personal issue (have a story, don't just say you were too lazy or whatever to study properly) you did not complete the course. BUT YOU PLAN TO RETURN TO COLLEGE AT NIGHT IN A YEAR OR TWO TO COMPLETE THE DEGREE. You then ask them do they help pay for staff who want to go to college at night. This will put the idea in their head that you want to stay working for them for a few years which employers find very attractive.

Best of luck with your career.

reallyuseful

Donnie

I would do as the earlier post said and list the years you attended and the topics covered.
If you leave a 3 year gap in your CV, interviewers will spot it. They will want to find out what you were doing. Worse still they may spot it and think you are hiding something and decide not to ask.

Either way it will not help you to get the job.

The best thing you can do is create a short summary statement that explains what you learned in year 1 and 2 that can benefit the employer and why you changed your mind about college. Write this statement out , edit it, refine it until you are happy with the result.

Most employers will have interviewed people who dropped out of college during the boom and as long as you can give a reasonable explanation they won't hold it against you.

I hope this helps

Oranage2

Flat out lie - and pretend you have your full degree

Depending on what you studied and what job you go for but a lot of jobs wont even check!

Wake_Up_Donnie

EDUCATION SECTION

2006 - 2010________B.Sc in Whatever________College Name

Pretty much exactly what I've written on my CV.

In the interview if they ask about your degree you can tell them you completed the first three years but due to some personal issue (have a story, don't just say you were too lazy or whatever to study properly) you did not complete the course. BUT YOU PLAN TO RETURN TO COLLEGE AT NIGHT IN A YEAR OR TWO TO COMPLETE THE DEGREE.

Well, the biggest reason college didn't work out is because of mental health reasons. I don't think an employer would be too inclined to hire me after hearing that. I do want to go back to college but I want to start completely afresh; different college, different but similar course. This is years down the line, of course.

You then ask them do they help pay for staff who want to go to college at night. This will put the idea in their head that you want to stay working for them for a few years which employers find very attractive.

Would it not seem as though I was only using the employer for money if I said that though?

Flat out lie - and pretend you have your full degree

I have done this occasionally in interviews but it always makes me feel so guilty. I'd be very paranoid that the employer would find out and then fire me for lying/inaccurate information regardless of how well I'd been doing the job.

Thanks for all the replies! I've sort of been doing a combination of the suggestions given. Any other advice would be greatly appreciated, particularly from anybody working in HR.:)

tenchi-fan

Wake_Up_Donnie wrote: »

Pretty much exactly what I've written on my CV.

But is it accurate to write BSc when you did not actually obtain a BSc?

Wake_Up_Donnie wrote: »

Well, the biggest reason college didn't work out is because of mental health reasons. I don't think an employer would be too inclined to hire me after hearing that. I do want to go back to college but I want to start completely afresh; different college, different but similar course. This is years down the line, of course.

Mental health is so subjective. It could easily boil down to "how does this candidate deal with stressful situations?" In which case, the answer is "not very well"

Wake_Up_Donnie wrote: »

Would it not seem as though I was only using the employer for money if I said that though?

This suggestion is a non-runner. A company *may* give you a loan and even time off to study, however it's unlikely they will fund it for you and they're certainly not going to think any more of you if you make this suggestion at an interview. Bad advice from a boardsie.

Wake_Up_Donnie wrote: »

I have done this occasionally in interviews but it always makes me feel so guilty. I'd be very paranoid that the employer would find out and then fire me for lying/inaccurate information regardless of how well I'd been doing the job.

Most companies I worked for requested copies of my LC results, degree results and professional certificates. Don't fool yourself into thinking they won't bother.. I know a guy who passed aptitude tests, interviews, and got fired 6 weeks later when he could not produce his Leaving Cert which showed he had 300 points (he didn't, and although he tried to drag the arse out of it, in the end he did not have the qualification he pretended he had and he got fired)

Mr. Loverman

tenchi-fan wrote: »

But is it accurate to write BSc when you did not actually obtain a BSc?

Well, you aren't saying you got the B.Sc, you are just saying that was the course you did.

Absolutely it is riding close to the edge of lying, but IMO you should only put positive things on your CV. Don't give the employer a chance to put your CV on the do-not-interview pile.

Regarding the reason why you didn't finish college, you don't need to be fully honest with the employer. It's a private issue and I am assuming you are now over whatever problem you were experiencing. I just think if you are honest you never know how the employer will take it - you could have some asshole sitting in front of you who has no understanding or sympathy for those who experience bouts of mental illness.

Personally I would say something like I was helping with the family business (which was struggling at the time) so college came second. Or something like that. Basically turn it into a positive. I understand you probably feel a little bit bad telling a white lie to an employer, but remember it is possible (likely?) the employer will try to shaft you at some stage in the future so don't feel too bad.

Asking the employer if they help pay for college is a good question. It suggests you appreciate education, are motivated and ambitious, and you will stick around for a few years.

I have done many interviews (as the employer).

Wake_Up_Donnie

tenchi-fan wrote: »

But is it accurate to write BSc when you did not actually obtain a BSc?

I don't actually have the letters BSc or the word degree on my CV, just:

2006-2010 Name of university - what I studied

Never in a million years would I put BSc on my CV when I don't actually have a BSc.

tenchi-fan wrote: »

Most companies I worked for requested copies of my LC results, degree results and professional certificates. Don't fool yourself into thinking they won't bother.. I know a guy who passed aptitude tests, interviews, and got fired 6 weeks later when he could not produce his Leaving Cert which showed he had 300 points (he didn't, and although he tried to drag the arse out of it, in the end he did not have the qualification he pretended he had and he got fired)

That's what I'm afraid would happen and is exactly why when a recruiter called last week regarding an interview relating to what I studied (which I'm confident I could do, no problem), I explained that I didn't graduate which meant I wasn't put forward for interview. I didn't apply for this particular job, the recruiter had my CV from a job I previously applied for.

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

Regarding the reason why you didn't finish college, you don't need to be fully honest with the employer. It's a private issue and I am assuming you are now over whatever problem you were experiencing. I just think if you are honest you never know how the employer will take it - you could have some asshole sitting in front of you who has no understanding or sympathy for those who experience bouts of mental illness.

Personally I would say something like I was helping with the family business (which was struggling at the time) so college came second. Or something like that. Basically turn it into a positive. I understand you probably feel a little bit bad telling a white lie to an employer, but remember it is possible (likely?) the employer will try to shaft you at some stage in the future so don't feel too bad.

I wouldn't mention the mental health issues because I know that not everyone understands and I think it would make me seem a bit unstable. Trying to figure out a plausible explanation for why college didn't work out is the hardest part. When it came up in an interview before, I just said it was for family reasons. To me, it sort of felt like the interviewer thought I was making it up and spent my time at college drinking and partying (the complete opposite, tbh).

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

Asking the employer if they help pay for college is a good question. It suggests you appreciate education, are motivated and ambitious, and you will stick around for a few years.

I really appreciate you taking the time to reply and presumably you have far more experience in the world of work than I do, but I have to respectfully disagree with this opinion. It seems like you'd like to hear this from a prospective employee but I think other employers would think I was just using them. I've done two FAS courses (and no, it wasn't just 3 months of 'Career Guidance') since I became unemployed and I'm currently teaching myself another course/topic so hopefully that will give the impression that I'm interested in education.